I am getting ready to buy another car now. When gas prices were $4 plus, I was really thinking about buying a hybrid. Now with gas prices back down to $2 or less, should I.
I understand the environment situation, however with the cost of a hybrid being $5k plus more, I will never make the money back over the life of the 4-5 years I am going to keep the car.
So any feedback of your experience owning a hybrid, or why I should or shoulnt would be appreciated.
Thing I found interesting about this is the Gas price.
So your prices have come back down. Here in the UK if our prices had halved we would be kissing Mr Brown’s a**.
Back to your conundrum.
I will never make the money back over the life of the 4-5 years I am going to keep the car.
Same issue we often work with when deciding if to buy Gas or Derv.
Decide how much you love the planet and people that will inherit it =
It’s a very personal issue.
Hi
We looked at getting a hybrid Camry in 2006, but my wife was doing high
mileage in her old job so it wasn’t really worth it for us, so we just
got an 2007 2.4 XLE which averages around 30mile to the gallon. The
other thing that put her off was the variable speed gearbox which
doesn’t change gear which she did not like (lol).
With her new job she is only driving a few miles a day so having the
hybrid now would be ideal…
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
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Hi
It’s US$1.93 here at the moment for a US gallon (3.785 litres) 
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.0 x86 Kernel 2.6.25.18-0.2-default
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NOW YOU ARE JUST RUBBING IT IN:’(
Wish I was there. My US zip= 34652
OPEC is talking about production cuts,& for right now with the global economic slowdown it(the price of gas) looks good. Over the long run though, I expect that sometime around 2010 the US economy will start to pick up,with the rest of the world to follow about 6 months later. Once that starts to happen the demand curves that caused that 100USD/bbl will restart & with that decreased production the prices will rise very quickly. So I’d say get the hybrid yes it’ll cost more but in about 2 years you might be happy you did.
IMHO there is only one choice and that is hybrid no matter what the cost.
Just an inconvenient truth…
Geoff
around 2010 the US economy will start to pick up
can I know why you think so?
US economy is only at start to fall in big black hole… I expect you have long 20 years if it helps to pick up…
your country at first stage of hole economy breaking… now is financial and banking system of US is breaking. I think you have two - five years of “Normal” life… after that you have great depression #2 that could be more destructive than #1
I did not see anything funny with that… no kiddings no joke on this theme…
all i said very IMHO…
double check the durability of the batteries and check the price for replacing them.
Uwe
When our fuel hit $5.70 I had to buy a skateboard. Than goodness work in the city is downhill from home.
Concerned about the long run? Get a bike, work from home. Since your grandchildren might want to inhabit this planet too, donate the money to Greenpeace or invest it in “sustainable development/clean energy” research - the car industry is the last you wanna give your money to.
Very well said, always use my bike or take the buss (run om methane here) if the weather’s too bad. Got rid of my car 2 years ago 
Geoff
> I will never make the money back over the life of the 4-5 years I am going to
> keep the car.
My car is 11 years old, gets over 40 MPG at 80 MPH and I expect it to pass a
very rigorous safety inspection next week. Why should you (or anyone)
“throw/trade away” a vehicle bought today as soon as it is paid off. (My 11 year
old was bought second hand when it was about 7 and fully depreciated–but very
serviceable, for cash–just think about all the monthly installments and
interest I did NOT have to pay.)
Next, how long would it take you to recoup the $5k entry cost if gas prices had
doubled again, rather than halved? [There is NO assurrance that it won’t triple
in the next 4-5 years!]
I remember the “gas crisis” of the 1970s and can assure you if GM, Chrysler and
Ford had used that “scare” to prod them into producing much more fuel efficient
hybrids they would not be begging for the taxpayers to bail them out, also.
(Instead, the entire world would be standing in line to buy their advanced and
economical vehicles. Instead, today the ‘imports’ cost an extra $5k.)
Think about it. Plus, less emissions, cleaner air, etc.
> Thing I found interesting about this is the Gas price.
>
> So your prices have come back down. Here in the UK if our prices had
> halved we would be kissing Mr Brown’s a**.
>
> We are paying UK£1.00/litre - 5litres in a Gallon~thereabouts =
> £5/gallon = $7.40
But you don’t have to drive as far to get where you want to go.
That’s one thing that people forget is the enormous distances in the US.
To visit my parents it is 900 miles…1 way.
But you don’t have to drive as far to get where you want to go.
That’s one thing that people forget is the enormous distances in the US.
To visit my parents it is 900 miles…1 way.
Whenever I travel those distances in the US I just get on a plane. If only they were Hybrid toolol!
I think we are talking about everyday use. If you live in lets say Fl. which is almost the size of the UK, you don’t tend to drive any greater distance than I do here in UK. I know bec I have a House in Fl.
Hi
Very true, but depending on where you are, it’s not the distance its
the delays you can face sitting in stalled traffic, which I hear in
England can be grueling at times?
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
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My family live in the UK which is about the same distance and i take the train. Takes much longer but green At all depends on how much one is willing to give up fore the sake of the environment
Geoff
I tend to disagree. While the US economy will bounce up and down, from the direction asia and the middle east intend to go, which is when the market increases in the US is to sell their investments, the US is looking at the real bankruptcy and collapse of the US economy. I say real because most people already know that the US government has been bankrupt for the past few decades, and that the only thing stopping the complete collapse has been the foreign investors. btw, a few years ago, while everyone was riding the highs, and most investment managers disagreed with what I was saying, I was warning a very close and very wealthy friend of the current financial crisis.
As for the car, if you can hold off wait until 2010
As for oil, there have been some major finds lately, and more to come. Of the coast of NZ alone a find of 12 billion barrels has been found. A major find has also been found in Australia, russia, and some previously dry oil wells have been found to be refilling from deeper deposits.
But there are some pretty interesting advancements that are on the edge of beeing introduced into the market that will make you grateful you hold of buying a car for now.
On Fri, 2008-11-14 at 04:56 +0000, jdawson1960 wrote:
> I am getting ready to buy another car now. When gas prices were $4
> plus, I was really thinking about buying a hybrid. Now with gas prices
> back down to $2 or less, should I.
>
> I understand the environment situation, however with the cost of a
> hybrid being $5k plus more, I will never make the money back over the
> life of the 4-5 years I am going to keep the car.
>
> So any feedback of your experience owning a hybrid, or why I should or
> shoulnt would be appreciated.
Buying a hybrid to SAVE money is the WRONG reason for owning a
hybrid. If this is your motive go out and get a Hummer (ok… that
was uncalled for… but really, you can just get a good efficient
running normal car and save some dough).
If you can keep the car 8-10 years, you can recoup some of the cost.
And eventually, hybrids will probably start costing less… so they’ll
be more attractive.
I own a 2006 Civic Hybrid. Gets 40 mpg no matter how I drive it…
which is nice. On a long stretch I can get over 48mpg. It’s
VERY valuable when gas stations are close due to shortages… a
common theme with the Gulf states (hurricanes).
Invest in alternatives in order to reduce our dependence on
foreign oil (esp. here in the USA). That’s a good reason to buy
a hybrid. And hopefully other things like natural gas, electric
and even hydrogen will become available… the more choices the
better.